BAD Sears Service

Hi BADSearsService-

Welcome to MySears.  I am so sorry to hear about the trouble you are having with your dishwasher. That sounds so frustrating. How far away is your nearest Sears? I am sure everything will work out. Now that you have the Service Agreement, at least you know any issues will be covered in the future.  I have forwarded your problem on to our customer service team on the site that deals with service issues-SearsCares.  They will reach out to you in the next couple of days-please recheck this thread! 

BADSearsService said…
I'm having a terrible time with Sears Service! On 5/6/09 my Sears Kenmore Elite Oasis HE washer died--only 2 1/2 yrs. old. A call to Sears service finally got me to someone in another country who sold me a Service Agreement for about $230 and scheduled a service call--for SIX DAYS later! On the 6th day the service tech came; said he had to order parts. Parts arrived next day, service tech back the next. This has gone on for 16 days, 4 tech visits/part orders, and my washer is still down. Parts now on order will be in in 6 or 7 more days... then I'll call the tech again...and pray he won't wait 6 more days to fix it. I'm NOT HAPPY with Sears Service!!

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Have any of those techs called STAC (Sears Technical Assistance Center) for assistance in troubleshooting your washer?  This usually will point the tech in the right direction to get the right parts.  If was the technical manager overseeing the techs in your area, I would have the tech on the second visit do this, especially after finding out that your washer wasn't getting fixed before he/she left.  Hopefully a customer relations manager will see this post and help you resolve this matter.

If you've had 4 or more repairs or service calls for the same issue within one year, Sears will replace the unit free of charge, or issue you an authorization amount (Usually what you paid for the product at its time of purchase, less any discounts) to go and buy a new one.

I would go into the store that you purchased it from, tell an associate or manager of your issue, and they will contact Sears OneSource, and get you a replacement under the No Lemon Law.

However, I'm not sure if the "Service Warranty" that you bought from Parts and Repair is the same as the Master Protection Agreement sold at the time of purchase. Sometimes they have features missing due to the length of time between the actual purchase and the service call.

Again, go into the store you purchased it from, and ask that the associate or manager get in contact with Service and set up a replacement under the No Lemon Law.

Print this page out if you need to, as it is standard procedure to call OneSource after a customer experiences numerous bad service calls.

My guess is this is probably a washer that fell under the recall but has not had the upgrade. They offered you the protection agreement because it would be much cheaper for you than paying for the entire upgrade out of pocket. Because these parts are expensive, they're not kept on trucks (you can imagine the attractiveness they'd have to thieves if they were full of valuable parts).

I'm confused about all the visits and orders, though. Was a full diagnosis not done on the initial visit? Or, were all the parts needed from the diagnosis not ordered? It's a very strange situation, and one that SearsCares, OneSource, or your local Sears store may be able to provide assistance with.

BlueCrewGuyInMA said…

My guess is this is probably a washer that fell under the recall but has not had the upgrade. They offered you the protection agreement because it would be much cheaper for you than paying for the entire upgrade out of pocket. Because these parts are expensive, they're not kept on trucks (you can imagine the attractiveness they'd have to thieves if they were full of valuable parts).

I'm confused about all the visits and orders, though. Was a full diagnosis not done on the initial visit? Or, were all the parts needed from the diagnosis not ordered? It's a very strange situation, and one that SearsCares, OneSource, or your local Sears store may be able to provide assistance with.

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I'm wondering the same thing myself.  Where is the technical manager???  Why isn't he/she involved in this by now???

The problem is most tech's today are parts replacers and not troubleshooters.

See my discussion "2 months to fix washer under MPA?".   I will make long story short. A service call is a pair of visits, one to diagnose problem//order parts and another to install parts. Need three of these before Sears consider machine lemon.  As far as I can tell nobody ever help my technicans with what is wrong with the washer.  When called Sears to complain they just gave the standard "blah blah" answer.   Consider yourself lucky it took only a few days to get parts.  

they dont have time to troubleshoot much as their work schedule (calls per day) have increased and under much pressure complete them (qty versus quality)  as you can imagine this is not what "they" desire. A tech fellow told me that in most recent times that getting any training or updating on new products has been very difficult due to reductions in budget ,overhead costs, and some downsizing in staff.

this results in delay inparts, not too good diagnosis of problems adn also the lack of supervision, as "the boss" should be aware of issues and ESCALATE issues of importance. Service recalls houdl eb montiored better no doubt, there was no mention of complaint if these are Sears Techs or the other company, A&E. techs....

maybe they should give up the work for Lowes and Home Depot and make time for Sears' own customers.  Also, EVERY problem is important...if not to Sears, it most definitely is for the customer.

nicetry said…

they dont have time to troubleshoot much as their work schedule (calls per day) have increased and under much pressure complete them (qty versus quality)  as you can imagine this is not what "they" desire. A tech fellow told me that in most recent times that getting any training or updating on new products has been very difficult due to reductions in budget ,overhead costs, and some downsizing in staff.

this results in delay inparts, not too good diagnosis of problems adn also the lack of supervision, as "the boss" should be aware of issues and ESCALATE issues of importance. Service recalls houdl eb montiored better no doubt, there was no mention of complaint if these are Sears Techs or the other company, A&E. techs....

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Regardless of the tech's work schedule, he/she should be on the phone with STAC getting technical assistance on the product.  The technical manager who oversees the techs in that area has access to recap reports that show him/her what the techs did the previous day.  This also includes all the trips that have been made on each service order.  If I were these guys' tech manager, I'd be asking "Just what the heck is going on with this particular service call, and why no one has called STAC (if this is the case) to get this problem properly diagnosed?"  Some guys just go in and order a bunch of parts thinking they know what the problem is, but they also do it because they are "in a rush".  Which I really CAN understand.  But this is not helping the customer.  STAC is Sears Technical Assistance Center.  The techs at STAC are there to help keep situations like this from happening.  And YES, sometimes they will get put on hold for some time before getting to talk to a STAC tech, but that's just the way it is.  And in most cases, if an electronic control board is needed, it is a REQUIREMENT to call STAC.  If the techs are knowingly ordering bunches of parts in order to avoid calling STAC, this is a bad situation.  And I would say this speaks badly for the technical management in that area.  Someone there needs to wake up.

I am a former AE Tech with Sears. I saw the statement above saying "the tech should just call STAC regardless of the work schedule".. You must be a rare Sears lifer or just plain out of the reality loop. Yes you can call STAC on every difficult situation if you have 8 calls a day and if routing or the manager does not add more calls on 20 miles away, on and on. If the unit is accessible with one person, if you even know how to open the unit or if your sears cell phone doesn't drop calls and if you don/t have to wait for STAC 20 minutes to get through and the call gets dropped halfway thru the diagnoses and you have to call back and wait another 10-20 minutes and if you get the same STAC person back so you don't have to backtrack. See some of the reasons why I quit? GET it now?

Good luck I have been dealing with the same thing on a 1 year old dryer!!  I started calling 4 months ago.

Hey kellstwin-

I saw that SearsCares-the customer service team that deals with appliance service issues-reached out to you on another post.  Were you able to get in touch with them?  They should be able to help you out.

Clawm said…

I am a former AE Tech with Sears. I saw the statement above saying "the tech should just call STAC regardless of the work schedule".. You must be a rare Sears lifer or just plain out of the reality loop. Yes you can call STAC on every difficult situation if you have 8 calls a day and if routing or the manager does not add more calls on 20 miles away, on and on. If the unit is accessible with one person, if you even know how to open the unit or if your sears cell phone doesn't drop calls and if you don/t have to wait for STAC 20 minutes to get through and the call gets dropped halfway thru the diagnoses and you have to call back and wait another 10-20 minutes and if you get the same STAC person back so you don't have to backtrack. See some of the reasons why I quit? GET it now?

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I have been in every situation you just identified.  I can't control the fact that STAC is not "staffed up" enough that they can't answer me immediately.  And no, I don't like it, but I do it.  I'm not quitting because of that.  As for your cell phone dropping calls?  Yes, that happens.  Did you ask to use the customer's phone?  Usually, they won't mind.  Not quitting over that.  You did pinpoint a problem that is valid...routing.  The way routing gives you calls is somewhat reflective of your district or tech manager's attitude.  So when you get an add on 20 miles away, usually the manager doesn't want to hear you complain.  BUT customers do not care about our internal problems.  Every large company has its internal probems that its employees complain about.  Our customers want us to show up on the date and time promised and fix the product.  If you don't call STAC to get help with a problem you're not sure about, you'll end up ordering parts that probably won't fix it.  I do hope that you are happier in your other job, because this job is not for everyone.

I have emailed them  I dont have a lot of time to sit at the computer.  I asked for a phone number so I can call them.

     I have quite a few Sears products that I own, and with each I have been talked into purchasing their service agreements.  It used to be that those agreements included yearly checkups, where they would come out and do a tune-up for example, but not any more, the agreements mostly now just apply if the product isn't working any more, I to hope that I don't have any problems with any of the Sears equipment that I own, because dealing with the Sears service department is a big headache to me.....

You're kind of right and kind of wrong. Protection agreements for appliances, power tools, exercise equipment, and electronics includes annual preventive maintenance checks. This is called a Master Protection Agreement.

For lawn & garden equipment (chain saws, tractors, lawn mowers, weedwackers, etc.), everything is covered the same as with the Master Protection Agreeement, except for annual check-ups (you do get a 10% discount, though). This is called a Repair Protection Agreement.

Mainly, the check-ups were eliminated for two reasons: cost and practicality. It was extremely expensive to do all those annual checks, and most of the check was stuff anybody can do on their own (and ought to), like changing spark plugs, oil, air filter, etc. So, rather than jacking up the price by another 50% to keep the check-ups, they dropped the check-ups and dropped the price a bit.

The problem with the Master Protection Agreements is that the Service Techinicians don't have the time to do everything that is listed on the MPA. Take a washing machine. According the the MPA, the technician is supposed to inspect the tub for leaks. On most washers, this requires disassembling the top, and the cabinet to even get a glimpse of the tub. Technicians don't have the time to do this. The are supposedly supposed to check either the coupler (direct drive) or belt on the transmission. Same thing, it requires diassembly. The MPA sounds good on paper, but in practice, at no fault to the service techs, you do not get anywhere near what you paid for.

If the technician does not do everything they are supposed to do according to the preventive maintenance checksheet (which is available from your local Sears store at no cost), you should call 800 4 MY HOME and tell them the technician did not do everything he/she was supposed to do, and that you want a proper check-up. If that does not work, call the local store and have them speak with service. And keep your paperwork, so if there's a question about who the technician was (which I can almost guarantee there would be), you'll have that information. You paid for service, and you are entitled to every bit of it. The technicians may have lots of stops, but your stop is just as important as any other, and your money is just as green as anyone else's.

To me, as a customer, it's one thing if my check-up date gets bumped back, because it's no big deal. It's not a crisis by any means, and I can just take a different day off. However, not getting the service I'm supposed to get IS a big deal. If you didn't get the shelves in your refrigerator, even though you paid for them, you'd raise heck. Well, no reason you should accept poor service. I'm sure hixonium and vasearstech and any of the other current techs would agree that if they're supposed to do it, they're supposed to do it. Skimping on service for expediency is not acceptable.